Kamal in Drishyam Remake

Kamal To Star In Drishyam Tamil Remake

It is now an incontestable fact that Drishyam is the most popular movie to have come out of Malayalam in the last two decades or so. The movie is running to packed houses six weeks after its release and countless reviews, both praising and taking apart the movie, inundates the various social media platforms. The news of remakes in other languages were in the air and no official confirmations were made. Many actors from Tamil, including Rajnikanth, Vikram and Vijay had watched the movie and had expressed their interest in doing a Tamil remake. It was reported earlier that Vikram would be starring in the Tamil version. The latest news is that, Kamal Haasan, who has almost completed the work on his directorial venture Viswaroopam 2, would essay the role played by Mohanlal in Drishyam. Jeethu Joseph, who will be directing the Tamil version too, said that with many stars including Rajnikanth, Kamal Haasan and Vikram expressing their interest to act in the movie, the decision to cast Kamal Haasan was a tough one. The movie would start shooting from June, 2014.  

Kamal Awarded Padma Bhushan

Kamal Haasan: 

The Quintessential Performer

Saumesh Thimbath

One line that you are likely to come across if you spend time with the Kamal rasikar or Kamal Haasan fans in Tamil Nadu is that thalaivar mattum americavil poranthirunthal ippo entha levelukk poyiruppaar? (Had Kamal been born in the USA what heights he would have reached by now?) One might feel the urge, as the writer has felt many times, to tell them that Paramakudi in Tamil Nadu, where the actor was born, is the best place Kamal Haasan could have been born in the entire world. Because the kind of artist Kamal is, a cinematic counterpart of the academic polymath, someone who straddles different departments of cinema, could only have flourished to his fullest potential in Indian Cinema. Where else would he have the chance to do 200-odd movies, in 5-6 languages; to direct, to produce, to write scripts and lyrics, to sing, to choreograph dance and stunts, not once, but many times over?

Winning his first recognition, President's Gold Medal, at the age of four for the performance in his debut feature, Kalathur Kannamma in 1959, Kamal had decided early on in his life to be 'an artist'. With talents spread over a wide spectrum, it appears that Kamal did not stop to ponder as to what that one medium where he can channelize all his creative urge could be. He decided to do it all, with a passion that welled up tears in the audience. He has been successfully doing this for many decades now, which is still a dream to many a creators. This could have been the primary reason why the Government of India conferred the Padma Bhushan on Kamal Haasan this year. Padma Bhushan this time had the fortune of reaching one of the most deserving cinematic artists of our time. Hats off to Kamal Haasan. 

Watch a photo slideshow of the ten best performances of Kamal Haasan.

The Week That Was

Saumesh Thimbath

Film'fair' Awards 2014

Bhaag Milka Bhaag was back in the limelight when the Filmfare Awards 2014 was announced today. Farhan Akthar won Best Actor, Rakesh Om Prakash Mishra won Best Director while the movie was adjudged the Best Movie of the Year. Prasoon Joshi bagged the Best Lyricist award for the song 'Zinda', Dolly Ahluwalia took home Best Costume Designer award and Acropolis Design won Best Production Design award taking the tally to a total of six awards. Deepika Padukone, in all fairness, was selected the Best Actress for her role in Goliyon Ka Rasaleela Ramleela. The Lunchbox came second to Bhaag Milka Bhaag in terms of number of awards,  winning Best Film (Critics), Best Debut Director for Ritesh Batra and Best Supporting Actor award for Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

End of an Era

Tollywood wore a pall of grief over the death of one of the industry's stalwarts, Akkineni Nageshwar Rao on 22 January. Akkineni Nageshwar Rao, ANR as he is fondly called, has a history of over 70 years in Telugu film industry. ANR, along with NTR, formed the backbone of the industry for over three decades. He was the recipient of Dada Saheb Phalke Award and Padma Vibhushan. The film industry closed down for a day on 23 January, the day of his cremation.

The Return of the Queen

The news of Aishwarya Rai's return to films after childbirth was the biggest news in Kollywood this week. It has been reported that Aishwarya would make her comeback in a Tamil film to be directed by Mani Ratnam. Though no official confirmation of the news is yet to come from the actress or the director, many news portals have carried the news. Aishwarya made her film debut with Mani Ratnam's Iruvar in 1997. She has subsequently acted in Mani's Guru and Raavan. Aishwarya and her husband Abhishek Bachchan are known to be very close to the director from South who has chipped in earlier to save their careers, which gives credence to the news.

No.1 Star of Tollywood

Who is the No. 1 Star of Tollywood?

Star-Wars for the top spot is not a new thing in Tollywood. But with many successful stars and movies, the question of who is number one cannot be easily judged. Below are the names of the four stars whom we think is in the race to be number one of Tollywood and why. Leave a comment telling us your opinion.

Pawan Kalyan: The highest grossers of the last two years belonged to Pawan Kalyan – Attarintiki Daaredi in 2013 and Gabbar Singh in 2012. Pawan Kalyan is one hero who has been going strong for the last two years without giving a flop. He is also known for selecting his projects carefully after the box offices bombs like Panjaa and Teenmar. Kalyan reportedly takes home a sum of 16 crore rupees, which is only matched by Mahesh Babu in Tollywood. An undoubted contender for the top spot.

Mahesh Babu: Eventhough his latest release, 1-Nenokkadine, did not become the hit it was supposed to become, Mahesh Babu is still at the top spot for many reasons. His movie earlier last year, Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu was a superhit, so was Businessman and Dhookudu. Mahesh Babu is building his base among the families, while keeping his youth fanbase happy with occasional action flicks he was once famous for. His next movie, Aagadu has already created enough hype. Mahesh Babu has been at the top for a long time and looks like he is in no mood to leave it to anyone.

NTR Jr: The success of NTR Jr lies in being in the limelight, attracting huge fan responses, for many years now. The youngest among the contenders for the top spot, NTR Jr definitely has time on his side. The youthfulness and energy that NTR Jr brings to screen is unparalleled in Tollywood. Badshah which came out last year was a hit in terms of the box office collections, but the huge budget acted against it being termed a blockbuster. His next, Rabasa, directed by Santosh Srinivas, rides on high expectations. NTR Jr is a top contender to be the number one star of Tollywood.

Prabhas: Prabhas is in the news for a role that not many actors get to play. His upcoming movie, Baahubali, is the most talked about project in Tollywood, with SS Rajamouli directing it. Prabhas has been working hard on his looks, physique and skills, which is closely guarded for the media and public. The kind of dedication that Prabhas brings to a project is worthy of admiration. Prabhas has been on the rise to the top spot ever since his first movie and in many ways deserves it.

Akkineni Nageshwar Rao (1924 - 2014)

ANR: A Legend of Telugu Cinema

With the death of Akkineni Nageshwar Rao, Indian Cinema has lost a stalwart who belonged to the first generation movie stars in the country. ANR, as Nageshwara Rao is popularly known, along with Nandamuri Tarakarama Rao (NTR), formed the pillars of a fledgling Telugu industry in the late 1940s. His contributions to the Telugu film industry does not end with the 260-odd movies he has done; he set up Annapurna Studios in 1955 and was one of the pioneers in making dance an integral part of movie song visualizations. His labor in setting up the base of Telugu industry in Hyderabad is well known, a move which greatly helped the industry in terms of production and revenue earned.

Born in 1924 into a family of farmers, ANR's entry into movies was not an easy one. His training in acting was mainly through the stage plays he did during his childhood. The first movie ANR acted in was Dharmapatni when he was just 17 years old. He appeared as Rama in the 1944 movie Seeta Rama Jananam which got him noticed. He appeared in 260-odd films in his career and was acting even at the age of 90 in Manam, a movie which also starred his son Nagarjuna and grandson Nag Chaithanya. He also holds a unique distinction of starring in the highest number of movies (127) that had a 100-day houseful run.

Over the seven decades ANR was active in the industry, many accolades have come his way, the major ones being the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1991 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011. He has also garnered numerous awards instituted by different states as well, which is testimony to his wider appeal.

The star with the heartening smile will be deeply missed.

Sukumar, Jr. NTR project in April

Why Jr. NTR signed Sukumar’s next?

M K Sinu 

1: Nenokkadine – was a case of expectations mismatch with actual outcome. This psychological thriller had rave reviews for the actor Mahesh and rants to the director. Everyone in the tinsel town is as good as their last release. Accepted fact. The film had a compelling narrative but found few takers. Director Sukumar's stocks plummeted soon after the release. Notwithstanding this, his joining hands with Jr.NTR for an action entertainer made news.

{Everyone in the tinsel town is as good as their last release}

With the success of Attarintiki Daredi B.V.S.S Prasad sensed that Sukumar’s failure is not fatal and Jr. NTR bad run at the BO is not permanent. So, his gambit - to produce the Sukumar directed Jr. NTR starrer potboiler, set to go on floor in April. 

Coming to think of it, for this outing, Sukumar would have stopped thinking with his heart. 

Fahadh - Nazriya Marriage

How could they? The Many Reactions to the News of A Marriage

Saumesh Thimbath

The news of the day in Malayalam film industry was that Nazriya Nazeem, the most popular actor from Kerala (at least on facebook) is getting married to Fahadh Fazil, the actor who is the poster boy of the trend that is 'new generation'. The news, as reported in some online news portals, has come as a huge blow to many a fans who were not expecting either of them to get married soon. According to reports, many Malayali girls are going to be plunged into the depths of depression and men in Kerala would hold their tears while they wait patiently in one of the world's most disciplined queues at the Beverages (thats what conscientious Mallus [sic] call a liquor store!). Considering that Nazriya has a fan following in Tamil too, many 'soup' songs would be on its way. Angry lovelorn people have taken to the social media protesting the move citing the age difference of the actors and some were wondering loud how Andreah, whom Fahadh had a crush on earlier, would react to the news. Looking at all the shock and anger, it appears that when stars, especially the young and beautiful, are getting married, they should do so after consultation with their fans and media. A facebook campaign towards sensitizing the stars to it is the need of the hour.

Remembering Suchitra Sen

The Second Act

Vinitha Kattungal

The death of Suchitra Sen today morning, apart from the deep remorse it brought, set the mind thinking about the heroines of our day. Suchitra belonged to a time when marriage and motherhood was not looked down upon by the industry which is a far cry from the Bollywood of our times.

Suchitra Sen

Lights, camera and action - the three magical words of tinsel town around which the glamorous film industry turns. After stepping into the whirlpool of ‘glitz and glamour’, every aspiring actress just spins along endlessly. They only stop after marriage and child birth. Why do the leading ladies, who are talented, attractive and at the peak of their acting careers, disappear after marriage and child birth?

People say it is unavoidable. But really, is it? Who is to blame for this brutal end to an otherwise promising career - the audience or the film makers? The film makers think that the fan following of the heroine (even if she is young) declines after marriage. Prominent film maker Sanjay Leela Bhansali ousted Kareena Kapoor from his ambitious project ‘Ram Leela’ on the grounds of Bebo’s impending marriage and justified his act by stating that post-marriage the audience would not be able to identify with Kareena’s portrayal of Juliet as Leela, as the film is based on Romeo-Juliet. Even the beauty queen Aishwarya Rai was dropped from Madhur Bhandarkar’s ’Heroine’ after she announced that she was pregnant.

Kareena Kapoor

Why are heroines always put into two categories - desirable or/and undesirable? Is it because, the role of heroine is to be the love interest of the hero, undoubtedly with a beautiful face, sensual body and dancing around in skimpy clothes. That is, in fact, the nature of the roles most actresses portray in their films. As far as the audiences are concerned, the heroine is their ‘dream girl’. They admire and fantasize about their screen idol. These fans are the main reason for all the stardom in the show business. If a hero desires a heroine, so do they. They fantasise about heroines who are single and reject those who are not single and not available.

Taking the argument forward, audiences feel that once their favourite heroine is married, they no longer get to have her, she is the property of the person she marries and in a jiffy they shift their focus on to the next available glamorous heroine. But the society accepts the leading man even if he is in forties, irrespective of his marital status. However, the same is not true of heroines. Heroines are asked if they would work post marriage. Why was Twinkle Khanna not asked if Akshay Kumar would work post wedding?

Sharmila Tagore

It is a myth, post marriage actress cannot pull it off like their unmarried counterparts. It has been challenged and proven that heroines even after having kids ruled the box office.

Cut. Pan. Zoom, to the early 50’s when noted Bengali actress Suchitra Sen, who died this morning,  made a successful entry after marriage and motherhood. Even in those days the masses as well as the film makers accepted her as an artist with great acting skills and were not concerned about her marital status. Some of Suchitra Sen’s unforgettable movies are Sherey Chuattor, Deep Jwele Jaai, Devdas and Aandhi. Suchitra's daughter, Moon Moon Sen also entered the film fraternity after marriage and motherhood in 1984. She was a model-turned-versatile actress who acted in Hindi, Bengali and all south Indian Films.

One heroine we could never forget is National award winner Sharmila Tagore, who began her acting career in Satayajit Ray’s Benagali film Apur Sansar in 1959 and established herself as a popular Hindi actress in Kashmir Ki Kali (1964). She was called the sex symbol of Bollywood for her first appearance in a bikini for the film An Evening In paris (1967). She married in 1969 and in 1970 her son Saif Ali khan was born. She is the only actress who delivered the maximum number of hits post marriage and after childbirth. From (1969-1975), she delivered hits like Aradhana, Safar, Daag, Amar Prem, Chhoti Bahu and Mausam. She could balance both professional and personal life.

Dimple Kapadia

Let’s look at some actresses who voluntarily have taken time off from their acting career to be married and after enjoying their motherhood made a successful comeback after a long gap. Who could forget Dimple Kapadia? She set the screen on fire after 12 years of marriage with Sagar (1985), and became one of the leading actresses in 1980s. Sridevi is one of the longest reigning successful leading ladies of Indian Cinema, who started her career as a child artist and is still going strong. But after marriage it took her 15 years to return with a bang in 2012 (with English Viglish).

Up next, ‘Dhak Dhak girl’ Madhuri Dixit, the dancing queen of Bollywood? - after delivering a number of hits before marriage, she took a break from acting to raise her kids and made a comeback in 2007 (Aaja Nachle) which bombed at the box office. She then returned as a judge for reality dance show ‘Jhalak Dikhla Jaa’. Her Dedh Ishqiya has been getting some rave review and Gulaab Gang arrives in March where she is paired with bubbly Juhi Chawla is the most awaited release. Juhi Chawla who is known for her comic timing in films, was one of the leading ladies of the 90’s along with Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit. But after marriage she started appearing in independent and art films, and her work include the critically acclaimed films 3 Deewarein, 7½ Phere and My Brother Nikhil.

Madhuri Dixit

Among the newer married heroines, we have Kajol and Karishma Kapoor. Kajol is seen on and off on screen, delivering hits and winning awards whenever she makes a comeback. As far as Karishma is concerned, during her break from films she acted in television serial ‘Karishma – The Miracle of Destiny’ and appeared as a judge for dance reality show ‘Nach Baliye – Season 4’, but her come back movie was a disaster (Dangerous Ishq) in 2011. Even in present slot we have actress like Chitrangada Singh who made a successful debut in 2003 after marriage in critically acclaimed film Hazaaron Khwaishan Aisi. She took a break from 2005-08 and made a successful comeback in 2008. Everyone is waiting for Aishwariya Rai to return but she always says ‘I am reading scripts’.

If Suchitra Sen could do it in 50’s, why not the present crop of heroines? If you look at the pattern, non-filmy husbands are matured enough to allow their celebrity wives to return to the silver screen whereas 'filmy' husbands are over possessive when it comes to their starry wives.

Whatever the reason may be, if the actresses what to comeback nobody can stop them. Who calls the final shot, is it the heroines, their husbands, the audience or the film makers? Whoever it is? One thing is assured - talent always sustains. So, how far comeback screen idols will be able to woo the audiences is the question of the hour and how many will get the approval and acceptance from the viewers, time will tell. Till then as our show man Raj Kapoor said “the show must go on”.

Surya-Lingusamy Movie 2014

Anjaan - Surya Back With Lingusamy

Saumesh Thimbath

Finally, the upcoming Surya-Lingusamy project has got a name – Anjaan. The title could be translated as either 'The Stranger' or 'The Fearless', but it does not matter really as the point is to have a short title which is easily pronounceable (and shoutable), sounds manly and with the potential for a peppy music number set around it. The first publicity stills are out and Surya spots a trimmed beard, short straightened hair and the other paraphernalia that any regular action hero cannot do away with – sunglasses, desi arm band and a locket which could have a traumatic back story.

In most of his films, Lingusamy has gone for non-Tamil actors for villains, be it Ashutosh Rana in Vettai, Atul Kulkarni in Run or Milind Soman in Paiyaa, and it appears Anjaan is not going to be different. Manoj Bajpai, Vidyut Jamwal, Rajpal Yadav and Dalip Tahil are among the cast, which means that anyone of them could be the villain. But the name of Prakash Raj in the cast does cause a bit of concern as the audience and, in all probability the actor too, have grown tired of seeing him as villain. To add a completely unrelated piece of news – Prakash Raj directs and acts in the remake of Malayalam movie 'Salt N Pepper', that too in Telugu, Kannada and Tamil. Now tell me if the point about Prakash Raj was wrong.

The cinematography of the film is already a talking point as Santhosh Sivan, the most celebrated cinematographer in the country, will be handling it. The other or more important reason is that it is the first time the new camera by Red Digital Camera Company, the Red Dragon is being used in a full length movie. The media is going gaga about it as it is the first time that a director of photography from the country gets to use a camera even before it is used by his counterparts in other countries.

Anjaan has Samantha Ruth Prabhu as the heroine, Yuvan Shankar Raja as the music director and Anthony as the editor. The movie is produced jointly by Lingusamy's Thirupathi Brothers and UTV Motion Pictures and is expected in August this year.   

Malayalam Movies to Watch in 2014

Malayalam Movies Bucket List - 2014

Saumesh Thimbath

As mentioned in the earlier post on the best movies of 2013, Malayalam cinema will see fewer releases than last year. Nevertheless, 2014 will have a a lot of actors, filmmakers and technicians making their debut; a trend that accompanies a paradigm shift the industry is going through. Here is the list of some movies that we expect might be worth your time this year.

The Gangster – We have been hearing about this for a long time and if the reports in newspapers are to be believed, the movie has gone on the floors. Aashiq Abu directs Mammootty for the second time after the director's debut venture, Daddy Cool. While many in the Aashiq Abu team wont be on board this time around, but Alphose Putharen, the director of Neram, will edit the film. 

How Old Are You – Since the time Manju Warrier, who essayed some popularly loved roles and quit acting after marriage, separated from her husband, actor Dileep, the speculations about her re-entry into films had been in the air. There were reports of a lot of projects that she had taken up. It is now officially confirmed that she would make a comeback with How Old Are You, which will be directed by Rosshan Andrews and scripted by Bobby-Sanjay. The movie will definitely be a huge draw, but could Manju live up to the stellar expectations of her fans need to be seen.

Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 – Mannar Mathai, Gopalakrishnan and Balakrishnan, one of the most memorable comic trio who appeared in Ramji Rao Speaking (1989) and Mannar Mathai Speaking (1995) return after almost two decades in the movie directed by Mammas. The trailer looks promising, with good visuals and quirky one-liners. Apart from Innocent, Sai Kumar and Mukesh who reprise their roles, Aparna Gopinath and Shammy Thilakan stars in the movie. 

Koothara – Sreenath Rajendran's next feature after Second Show, which launched Dulquer Salman, is titled Koothara (a word that is used commonly in southern Kerala which in recent times is attributed to anyone from a cracker of bad jokes to one who starts an unnecessary drunken brawl). This time Mohanlal, with an unkempt hair and beard and tattered clothes, will be seen along with the younger actors Bharath and Sunny Wayne.

Apart from these movies, Nivin Pauly's 1983 and Om Shanthi Osana, Asif Ali-Sunny Wayne-Andrea Jeremiah starrer Mosayile Kuthira Meenukal, Dulquer Salmaan and Nazriya Nazeem's Salala Mobiles, Prithviraj-Andrea Jeremiah starrer London Bridge, Rajeev Ravi's second directorial starring Fahadh Fazil's brother, Farhan, are the other major movies that are expected soon.

The Week That Was

Sinu & Saumesh

Dhak Dhak Girl in New Avatar

The zany black comedy Ishqiya of 2010 is back in a new avatar in the second installment with Dedh Ishquia. Bollywood release this week is a spectacle. A spectacle demands attention. Not a 100 cr. enterprise but enterprising enough with rural settings and sharp dialogues as its prequel. Naseerudin Shah, Madhuri Dixit, Arshad Warsi, & Huma Qureshi transports the viewer to another world and time. This week also saw the trailer release of Madhuri and Juhi starrer Gulaab Gang. Not the usual tableau of fire-spitting women at war. Certainly, coming-of-age in Bollywood for Madhuri and Juhi.

Fight All Out

In Tamil Cinema, the major talking point of the week is the box office confrontation of Ajith's Veeram and Vijay's Jilla. As we said last week, Jilla was leading the race on many counts. Both the movies are touted to do good even when almost all the reviews have rated the movies as only average fares. The fates of the movies would become clear in the coming 3-4 days. Meanwhile, a look at the comments on the online reviews can give one a sense of the vitriolic fan wars that is in progress. 

The Winner Takes It All

Drishyam continues its majestic run for the fourth week attracting splendid audience responses and equally strong criticism from a section of the audience. One could have a different opinion on the claims that this is the best movie to have come out in Malayalam in the last few years, but it sure has the unique distinction of being the most talked about movie in years. Then, somebody tried to make a few quick bucks by uploading the movie on a torrent site, an idiotic move considering what befell the people who tried doing the same with Bachelor Party last year. The initial allegations of naivete gave way for a sense of awe when people found the culprit to be a teenager. Drishyam is in no mood to climb down to the second spot be it in collections or controversies.

Telugu movies to watch out for in 2014

Telugu Movies Bucket List - 2014


M K Sinu

A year with mix of masala and feel-good movies, topped by established stars and new comers, is by far the observed trend in the year gone by in Tollywood.

‘Grandeur’ – amongst other, is an oft-used term used by anyone who is someone in filimnagar to describe the movie of their choice in the glittering world of Telugu movies. As much as the term evokes a sense of fortune, but anything that is released in the tinsel town is worthier than anything one-dimensional and monochromatic. That’s Tollywood for you. Here’s our pick of must-watch for 2014.

Autonagar Surya – Nag Chaithanya's Autonagar Surya has been in the pipeline for quite sometime now. The movie was caught up in financial troubles and is finally ready for release on January 31. The movie has Samantha Ruth Prabhu as heroine and Rakul Preet Singh and Sai Kumar co-stars. Deva Katta, who has earlier directed Prasthanam and Vennela, has directed the movie.

Bhimavaram Bullodu – The movie stars comedian Sunil in the lead role and Esther Noronha is the heroine. The movie will be a comic caper and is directed by Uday Shankar. The music for the movie is composed by Anoop Rubens.

Heart Attack – Puri Jagannadh's next after Iddarammayilatho. Heart Attack has Nithiin and Adah Sharma in lead roles. The movie marks the first production venture of the director's company, Puri Jagannadh Touring Talkies.

Legend – Legend stars Nandamuri Balakrishna and has Radhika Apte and Sonal Chauhan as the heroines. The movie is produced by Ram Achanta, Gopichand Achanta and Anil Sunkara under 14 Reels Entertainment and Sai Korrapati will be presenting the film on Vaarahi Chalana Chitram. The bike used by Balakrishna in the movie has become a hit even before the release of the movie. Legend is expected to hit screens on March 28.

Race Gurram – Allu Arjun makes a comeback after the moderate fare Iddarammayilatho. The teaser of the movie was released a month back and the response has been good. Race Gurram is directed by Surender Reddy, who directed Kick and Athidhi. Shruthi Hassan is the heroine and Tamil actor Shaam and Saloni Aswani co-stars.

Manam – Manam brings together three generationn of actors from a family. Akkineni Nageshwar Rao will act with his son Nagarjuna and grandson Nag Chaithanya in this comedy family drama. Samantha and Sriya Saran are the heroines. Directed by Vikram Kumar, the movie is expected in the first week of April.

Apart from these movie many movies are under production, but has created enough hype even before the first look is released. Rabasa is the tentative title given to NTR Jr. - Santosh Srinivas project that is in production. The movie stars Samantha and Pranitha as heroines. Mahesh Babu's next after 1-Nenokkadine is Aagadu which is produced by 14 Reels Entertainment and is expected to hit screens by the end of May. Also in the pipeline are Kick 2 starring Ravi Teja, an Allu Arjun – Trivikram Srinivas project, NTR Jr – Sukumar project, Ramcharan – Krishna Vamsi project.

Tamil Movies to watch out for in 2014

Tamil Movies Bucket List - 2014

Saumesh Thimbath

Much has been told about Jilla and Veeram, even in this space, so without wasting more of anybody's time, let's move to the next big releases that are expected this year. 

Kochadaiiyaan – Rajni's next. Directed by Rajnikanth's daughter Soundarya, the production of the movie started some time ago and was expected to hit the screens on the superstar's birthday last month.

It is the first movie made in India using the motion capture technology seen in Avatar and The Adventures of Tintin. Rajnikanth plays three characters in the movie. The rumors that the actor might say goodbye to acting after the movie also stands in good stead for it.

Viswaroopam 2 – After the controversial Viswaroopam, Kamal Hassan holsters up his guns for a second part. The shooting for many scenes in the movie was already done along with Viswaroopam and the sequel would give a fitting end to the story that began in the first. Nobody knows what to expect from the film as nobody quite understands what goes on inside the Ulaganayagan's head.

I – I is Shanker's next starring Vikram and Amy Jackson in the lead. According to reports it is a science fiction romantic thriller. Vikram has worked hard on his physique and Shanker on the visual effects. The visual and graphic works of the movie is underway at Weta Studios, New Zealand, the studio owned by the director of The Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson. Nothing much about the movie has been made public and this strategy is paying off. All the names mentioned here is enough promotion to garner a superb opening and make it a blockbuster. That I would be a hit is a foregone conclusion.

Muni 3: Ganga – Muni, a hororr movie with generous doses of cheesy humour and unrestrained dance numbers, was a B-class theatre phenomenon when it was released in 2007. Raghava Lawrence, the director who is also the lead actor and choreographer, followed it up with Kanchana in 2011, which was an even bigger hit. Lawrence returns with the third installment this year and we see a freaky franchisee in the making.

Apart from these, there are a few other movie which is still in the pre-production stages. An Ajith-Gautam Menon project is on the anvil, so is a Vijay-Murugadoss film. Surya, the star who is making a steady rise to super stardom, would be seen in movies directed by Venkat Prabhu and Lingusamy. The icing on the cake? That there would be movies directed by newcomers which would take us by surprise as has been the case in the past few years.

 Uday Kiran : Commits Suicide 

Telugu actor Uday Kiran committed suicide by hanging himself in his flat.

Uday Kiran attained stardom early in his career - the actor made debut with Telugu film Chitram  (2000). The film was a big hit.  This was followed by some blockbuster like Nuvvu Neenu, Manasantha Nuvve and Sriram. Jai Sriram was his last release in 2013. In 2006, he also acted in Tamil film Poi directed by K. Balachandar  

The 33-year-old actor got married to his long-time friend Vishita last year.

The Week That Was

Sinu & Saumesh

Retirement Benefits  

Ever since Uday Chopra announced his retirement plans after Dhoom 3. He made more news than the promotion of the film itself. The twitterati went on an overdrive with funny comments around it. Good decision, if not for him, we need a break from his movies. This week he made news with his itsy-bitsy post on twitter with Nargis Fakhri. Don’t ask who?

Box office war – Reloaded

It's Deja Vu time in Tollywood, or sort of. The upcoming box office clash between Mahesh Babu's 1-Nenokkadine and Ramcharan Teja's Yevadu reminds one of the similar clash between the stars' movies, Seethama Vakilto Sirimalle Chettu and Naayak last Sankranti season. Both the movies did well commercially last year. It has to be seen what will be the fate of the releases this season. Will the sense of deja vu not run the full course with any movie failing to make it big?

Finally marriage knocks at John’s door

Whether pre-planned or not, John Abraham’s marriage to Priya Runchal investment banker and financial analyst made news this week. It took some time for John to be open about his relationship after his break-up with Bipasha Basu. After a decade of acting John Abraham is the flavour of season, not because he has done path breaking work in acting, but as an outsider he produced path breaking movies. J.A. Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. next Hindi film is titled ‘Banana’ after critical acclaimed Vicky Donor & Madras Café.

                                POV

Drishyam starring Mohanlal and directed by Jeethu Joseph has emerged as the clear winner among Christmas releases and is also touted to become the highest grosser of the year. Stars from other languages including Vijay and Vikram has seen the movie and is reportedly bowled over by it. A Tamil remake with Vikram as the lead is planned and Mohanlal's brother-in-law, Suresh Balaji, has bought the rights for the movie already. The buzz is that Jeethu will return as the director for the Tamil version and he also might helm a Hindi remake if at all it gets made. Aging stars in Hindi think of it, you’ve a hit in hand.

Clash of the Titans

With two major movies planned for Pongal, Jilla and Veeram, the former starring Vijay and the latter Ajith, Tamil movie goers and theatre owners are facing tough choices. But from the look of the movie promotions online, Jilla is definitely the front runner with its 14 seconds trailer getting more than a million views in few days while Veeram lags far behind with less than one lakh views on its official site.

Blair Witch comes to Sandalwood

The found footage genre Kannada movie "6 - 5 = 2" written and directed by newcomer KS Ashoka, made news for more reasons than one. This horror flick revolves around a fatal trek accident, in which three people die and two trekkers disappear. Only one trekker manages to return home. Produced at a shoestring budget of ₹20 lakh, this movie collected ₹2 crore at the Box Office in four weeks. Other language remakes, anyone?

   

Best Fims in Telugu 2013

Telugu Movie Round-up 2013

M K Sinu

This year Tollywood saw hit ticket-selling with Prabhas starrer ‘Mirchi’ early on, at one end, and comic noir act in ‘Swamy Ra Ra’ proving clincher at BO at the other end. Tollywood experimenting? Too early to comment. But, then a pattern clearly indicating it wasn’t just the big movies (read star power loaded) that created the impact at BO.  Fortunately, movie goers sidestepped films veiled in the grab ‘being different’.

On a parallel note, end always breeds nostalgia for a year that has just passed. Fortunately, for Tollywood reflecting on the movies that released this year is mixed bag kind of sorts – a porridge of drama, action, & comedy. Illuminating moments for few and damp squib for others. Nonetheless, below is a pick of 10 movies which we feel made an impact - big, small, or and something in-between.     

Seethama Vakilto Sirimalle Chettu

Director: Srikanth Addala

Starring: Venkatesh, Mahesh Babu, Anjali, Samantha, Prakash Raj & Jayasudha

"Brothers in arms."

Mirchi

Director: Koratala Siva

Starring: Prabhas, Sathyaraj, Anushka Shetty, Richa Gangopadhyay, Nadhiya, Adithya, & Brahmanandam

"à la Goodfellas style movie meeting bad-lands of Rayalseema genre."

Swamy Rara

Director: Sudhir Varma

Starring:  Nikhil Siddharth & Swati Reddy

"Con job gone awry."  

Prema Katha Chitram

Director: R. Ravi Kumar

Starring: Sudheer Babu, Nanditha, Praveen & Giri

"Horror marrying comedy genre."

Gunde Jaari Gallanthayyinde

Director: Vijay Kumar Konda

Starring: Nitin, Nithya Menen, Isha Talwar, Jwala Gutta &Ali

"Love actually."

Antaku Mundu Aa Taruvaata

Director: Mohan Krishna Indraganti

Starring: Sumanth Ashwin, Eesha, Madhubala & Ravi Babu

"Love in the time of social media."

Atharintiki Daaredi

Director: Trivikram Srinivas

Starring: Pawan Kalyan, Boman Irani, Nadhiya, Samantha, Pranitha,
Brahmanandam & Ali

"The road less travelled."

Doosukeltha

Director: Veeru Potla

Starring: Vishnu Manchu & Lavanya Tripathi

"The rom-com family entertainer that hit the mark."

Venkatadri Express

Director: Merlapaka Gandhi

Starring: Sundeep Kishan, Rakul Preet Singh, Brahmaji, & Thagubothu Ramesh

"'Bommarillu' rebooted beautifully."

Uyyala Jampala

Director: Virinchi Varma

Starring: Avika Gor & Raj Tarun

"Cousins can be more than just friends."

As for 2014, there is already a sense of bigness with big-ticket line up in the first quarter itself. Looking forward to the good, the not-so-good & the extraordinary.